


Snapshots of an Interfaction Romance

by fluffybun



Category: Divergent Series - Veronica Roth
Genre: F/M, Missing Scene, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-04-14 21:18:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4580514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluffybun/pseuds/fluffybun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The many moments of Andrew and Natalie Prior, before they became, when they did, and all the afters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snapshots of an Interfaction Romance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flipflop_diva](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flipflop_diva/gifts).



**i. Awareness**

She's watched this experiment for years now, but she still finds it strange how everyone rigidly observes the rules of the factions they belong to even at such a young age.

She's still getting used to this place, Chicago. There are a lot of questions as to why she's only appeared now in Dauntless, why she's only started going to school now, but David and the others have found ways to explain that.

Things she understands so much more now here: one doesn't talk to people from other factions. Abnegation are the only ones who usually talk to the factionless. Other than that exception, most people keep to their factions for friendships. She had thought that maybe she could start learning more about Erudite from those in Erudite, make friends there, to make her going into Erudite post-Choosing Ceremony easier. Now, she can say that this was impossible. Erudite, moreso than the others, seems guarded about the secrets of their faction. And with good reason, she thinks, for the other factions would definitely question some of the plans Erudite had, especially for eliminating the Divergent.

Her task, she reminded herself, was to eliminate the people who planned to kill off the Divergent. A few years in Erudite, then she could return to the other side of the wall. She couldn't forget her roots, even as many things in Chicago became familiar to her.

There were some good things about Dauntless, the faction she had been placed into. The cake was good, for one thing, not to mention that being able to train to protect one's self physically was always good also. Still, she knew her task - get into Erudite and stop their plan to eliminate the Divergent without getting caught.

A wolf whistle sounded from behind her. "Looking good, Natalie."

She cracked a smile. Leo was shameless, she thought, looking back at one of her Dauntless friends. She appreciated that Dauntless showed their emotions so easily and boldly - she remembered the tentative smiles she caught an Abnegation pair of students who might have been courting each other or not, she wasn't sure, gave each other. She didn't want to deal with such uncertainty.

"Shush, Leo" she said quickly, though her voice was teasing.

"All right," he said.

As she turned to the front, a boy caught her eye. In the Erudite area, she noted, next to a blonde girl that she had been instructed to know prior to entering. He grinned at her, an honest smile that surprised her.

He was cute, she thought. And because Natalie was Dauntless, she grinned back openly at him.

Who was this boy again?

**ii. Recall**

Andrew Prior, she remembered now, that the name of the boy who had smiled at her a few days ago. He seemed friendly, from what little she knew of him.

He's the boy who's friends with Jeanine Matthews, she thought grimly. But from what she remembered of the reports, he didn't know what Jeanine had been starting to research with the approval of the leaders of Erudite. From all accounts, Jeanine kept what she was doing to herself.

Still, David noted in his letter to her, she should be careful.

She shook her head. It was too hard to even think of making friends with the Erudite in general. Maybe she could find out more about them some other way.

**iii. Chances**

“That’s wrong, Andrew.”

The students shifted in their seats uncomfortably as the teacher for Faction Psychology narrowed his eyes at Andrew Prior. To his credit, the boy stared up at his teacher levelly.

“Teacher, if I can just explain-“

“I don’t need any explanations! Redo this,” the teacher said dismissively. “It is disappointing especially for an Erudite to be unable to complete this simple project.”

The teacher, an Erudite, was rude to everyone, Natalie knew - she herself had been scolded by this teacher how many times regarding her homework, her posture, her outlook on what drove people to do certain actions. David had warned her to be careful about that, making herself look too confident about her knowledge, lest Jeanine Matthews take too much of an interest in her. Still, this was unfair. Andrew seemed to be conscientious about his schoolwork, so she felt for the boy, even if she didn't know him.

“There is no need to give a failure any moment more to explain. Redo this, quickly. You are an embarrassment to Erudite,” the teacher said haughtily, before dismissing the class.

Immediately the Amity and Candor started chattering with each other, while the Dauntless noisily packed up their things.

"Natalie, we're going to go. You coming?"

"Wait, I need to look over something" she said quickly. David had promised that library would have the books she needed to read for her task.

"All right," Leo said with a nod as he and the other Dauntless left.

In the library, she quickly found the books she needed and set them down to skim through them. She couldn't take them home, but she could at least get a start on them.

"Excuse me," said someone suddenly, pointing to her book. "Do you need this book?"

She blinked at the boy in front of her. Andrew Prior. This would be the first time they would speak directly.

"I do, but do you need it?"

"Yes," he said. "It might be useful for-"

She felt embarrassed. She remembered why he needed this book in particular. "Of course."

He looked thankful as he reached out to get the book. At that moment, their fingers brushed. She felt her cheeks burn at the contact and then quickly thought how silly it was, considering she was a Dauntless. Well, she really wasn't, she reminded herself, not that anyone here knew that.

"Thanks," he said quickly, now flipping through the book.

"If you want, I can help you." This slipped out of her mouth without her thinking and she wondered if she should take it back, especially as the moments lengthened without his answer.

"I'd appreciate it," he said finally, meeting her eyes sincerely. "I'd like to hear another person's views on this, perhaps it will make things clearer for me."

"All right," she said, giving him a bright smile.

**iv. Closeness**

"Hey," she said softly. "You okay?" The project had been going well - Andrew really was brilliant, she thought, but the project had become much better than before. She doubted the Erudite teacher would refuse this now.

He looked up at her curiously, though he couldn't hide the tiredness in his eyes. "Yes?"

She shook her head. After many afternoons spent together, she knew when he was lying. "You don't look fine. Do you want to talk?"

He deflected the question easily. "It's okay. Don't you need to leave early?"

She shook her head. "No, that's fine. The trains come through every so often." She was lucky that she didn't have an actual family that worried about her in Chicago, not to mention that the Dauntless were pretty lax with their children in general. "But we can't talk here," she added.

He nodded. "I know a place."

Andrew's place was near the marsh, Buckingham Fountain. It was a good place to talk, she noted, as hardly anyone came here since the fountain had not been working for a long time.

"What's going on?"

She could see Andrew visibly relax after telling her of some of his problems - Erudite seemed to put pressure on each other needlessly, she noted. Still, it was good to see him relax.

"Thank you," he said.

"I can't really let my study buddy down, can I?" Her voice was warm.

**v. Agreement**

The teacher had finally accepted the project, much to Andrew and Natalie's relief, albeit grudgingly.

It was time to end their study sessions, she thought sadly. But when she turned to go, Andrew grasped her arm.

"Do you want to keep meeting up?" His voice was shy, uncharacteristically so for someone of Erudite.

Natalie, who was Dauntless, also felt somewhat shy, but she knew what she wanted to say. "Of course," she said, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Good," he said with a grin.

**vi. Sharing**

“What do you like most about Dauntless?”

“The cake,” she said instantly, because it was true. Perhaps it was the truest thing she had ever said to anyone here in this experiment. “What do you like best about Erudite?”

His voice was easy, careful. “Learning about whatever I want.”

Caution, Natalie heard in her head. For all that Andrew was nice to her, this was still a boy who had grown up with Jeanine Matthews, the girl she was supposed to eliminate once she got into Erudite. But this was Andrew, who wasn't like any Erudite she had observed before. He was different. 

David didn't like Andrew, but Natalie did. David would have to live with that.

**vii. Decisions**

One day, Andrew came late to their agreed spot, the Buckingham Fountain, visibly agitated.

"Are you all right? What happened?"

He exhaled noisily, sitting on the fountain's ledge carefully. “Natalie, I have to leave. I can't - I don't want to participate in that!”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Andrew, what happened?”

His words tumbled out in a rush, his forehead slicked with sweat. Jeanine injecting something in a Factionless man in exchange for something, then the man terrified to death by what he saw. Seeing the head of Erudite nodding, taking notes, telling her to continue her experiment even as the man grew weaker. How the man would never be the same again.

“Andrew?”

“Natalie,” he said. “Are you planning on going to Erudite?” She had never mentioned her plans of going to Erudite, but apparently Andrew had filled in the blanks.

“No,” she said. “I-“ 

"Are you sure?" His voice was firm.

"I won't," she said. "I don't think I can pass the test," she said truthfully, even though she knew that David could fix the results. These were things no one could know.

"Natalie," he said quietly, "I want to leave Erudite."

She nodded.

"Will you come with me?"

"Where?"

"To Abnegation," he said.

Natalie nodded. Abnegation was the best choice. It was also the faction that Andrew would feel most comfortable in, for Candor, Dauntless, and Amity all had their flaws that Andrew would have trouble adjusting to. Andrew was kind, kinder than most Erudite. He would do well there.

"Yes," she said simply. Abnegation was a good place to oppose Erudite's plans, with many of its members making up the government. If not, she would make it work. It might take longer than infiltrating Erudite, but it was a path she could better weather. And with Andrew at her side...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a kiss. Impulsiveness in romance wasn't a Dauntless thing, she thought dizzily, and that was a good thing.

"You know, if we're going to be Abnegation, we can't really show so much signs of affections" she teased after.

He grinned before leaning in again. "Well, we aren't yet until Choosing Day anyway."

***

This is Choosing Day, and when an Erudite boy and a Dauntless girl both choose to go to Abnegation there are murmurs from the crowd. As they walk to Abnegation together, Andrew pretends not to feel the narrowed glare that Jeanine Matthews sends at his back and Natalie actively forgets David's comments in his last letter for this is a joyous occasion for both of them, now that they can walk side by side as members of the same faction.

**viii. Existentialism**

It had been two years since they had passed the initiation for Abnegation. Because of Abnegation's rules, they weren't able to spend much time alone - it wasn't proper for those in Abnegation to have secret meetings with their significant others. This time, though, they had just finished sorting supplies for the Factionless, and he had offered to walk her home. This was perfectly proper, though she felt a thrill as his hand grazed hers quickly for a second.

“Do you ever wonder what’s out there?” The question slipped out of her mouth carelessly, though she knew that she had wished to ask him that ever since she had fallen in love with him in their meetings by the fountain.

“What do you mean?” Andrew furrowed his brows, looking to the walls far away.

She kept her tone light to make it sound like an innocent question between lovers instead of what it really was – a probing question to test one’s ability to accept. “Beyond the factions.”

Andrew shook his head, suddenly looking tired.

“Andrew?”

“I don’t think we have time to think of what’s out there,” he said gently, tiredly, “when there are so many problems right here.”

“Problems?” Andrew had been noticed by the leaders of Abnegation even during their initiation, had seen a natural leader in him, so he had been kept abreast of problems that the factions didn't know.

His smile, tired as it was, still had the glow that made her fall in love with him. “Problems, yes. Still, they are worth it.”

And in that moment they both stopped being Abnegation for a little while, their emotions clear on their faces.

"Natalie," he said quietly. "Even though we can't follow the proper Abnegation rules since both our families are in different factions, will you marry me?"

This was it, Natalie thought. She had already chosen to stay with Andrew, to go with him to Abnegation together. Now it was to be made official.

I'm sorry David, she thought, even though I don't need to be - I just want to be happy also. 

"Yes," she said with a true smile, one that she only gave to Andrew. "Yes, let's get married."

**ix. Secrets**

As she grew more entrenched in Abnegation, especially with Andrew rising in the ranks, she was unable to send as much reports. It was fine, she thought, because they could see what was happening anyway on the screens.

She sighed as she looked over the lists of the children about to take the Aptitude Test. So many possible Divergent, she thought. It was a good thing that there were people who knew the dangers of such who were in charge of the examination. It had been worth it to help out in the examination process to find people who were ready to protect the Divergent instead of handing them to Erudite. Harder to keep this a secret from Jeanine Matthews, who was also rising in the ranks.

She cast her eyes up to the rooms of Tris and Caleb. Soon her children would grow up, would have their own choices to make. She had a feeling that her children would return to their parents' roots, even though both Andrew and she had never told their children that they were both transferees.

Natalie herself had secrets Andrew didn't know. That she wasn't really Dauntless from birth - that she was really from beyond the walls. There might never be a good time to tell Andrew, she thought, who believed deeply in the history of the Factions. Sometimes she wished she could tell him because Andrew would try his best to understand, bless him, but there were other things to worry about, like Erudite's researching certain things that Abnegation couldn't involve themselves in.

She could see the questions in Beatrice’s eyes some days, the moments when she would push herself to find the ‘right’ thing to do, the Abnegation thing to do.

She knew of the books Caleb hid in his room, books of varying subjects and of a difficulty that would have surprised her if Caleb’s parents had not been Natalie and Andrew Prior.

She knew that the place for both of her children were not in Abnegation, no, though Andrew believed that their children would not leave them. When they come back to us after Choosing Day, he had said calmly one night while they were preparing for bed. We’ll tell them everything about Abnegation, about Erudite, the truth behind the poor relations behind them. About Jeanine and what she plans to do. They’re young, they’ll be able to go places Jeanine won’t consider.

Natalie kept her thoughts to herself but simply nodded.

He would have to find out the hard way.

"Natalie?"

She was jolted out of her thoughts by her husband, who had a worried look on her face. "Yes, Andrew?"

"It's time for bed," he said with a small smile. He hugged her then tightly - a breach of Abnegation rules if anyone saw them, certainly, but they were alone in their house and no one could report them anyway. She smiled into his chest.

"Thank you."

**x. Understanding**

"To leave us," Andrew said angrily, though years of living as Abnegation made his voice still softer than the voices of Candor people when they were wishing each other well, "leave Abnegation-" Already worried thoughts flitted through his mind, of Jeanine and how Erudite would spin this, how Abnegation faith in him might waver. Rarely did Abnegation leave their faction, and two from one of the leaders, even-

"They are what we were before and are," she said quietly. Caleb had chosen Erudite, Andrew's old faction. Beatrice had chosen Dauntless, her old faction. 

He looked at her, his face torn. "Jeanine-"

"Caleb will be fine," she said, doing her best to keep the uncertainty out of her voice. "Beatrice will be fine."

He shook his head. 

It would take a while longer, Natalie knew, for Andrew to calm himself down. Still, she would be there for him to help him understand, just like how she had helped him understand aspects of Faction Psychology so many years ago.

**xi. Resolve**

It is time, she thought. Andrew and Caleb are safe, she thought, but Beatrice will be coming - she is Divergent, she wouldn't be controlled.

“I’m going to get Beatrice,” she said to Andrew. All the things she wished she could have said, she could only hope he understood.

“All right, Natalie” he said to her with a gentle smile on his face. “Caleb and I will wait here for both of you.”

And in a stolen moment, they forgot they were Abnegation, Abnegation on the run, and they let themselves kiss each other for what might be –must not be- the last time.

**xii. Peace**

Andrew, she thought, this is the end.

When we next see each other, she thought, I hope there will be no more lies.

\---

Natalie, he thought, it’s time for us to rest.

Next time, he thought, I hope that we will be able to tell each other everything.


End file.
